TruNorth Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

TruNorth Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 430 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $87,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 49,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after buying an additional 7,776 shares during the last quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 1,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 77.4% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 5,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc acquired a new position in Waste Management in the third quarter valued at $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $229.70 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $213.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $230.63.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 44.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WM. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,460 shares of company stock valued at $13,721,774. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.